I don't know the specs of 7.62 AP as far as weight and velocity but I have tested lots of M2 ball from 30/06 rounds(162gr at 2850) and it will shoot through 3/4" of T1 laminated steel. Regular ball ammo will not even dent these plates,we shoot them with our 5.56mm and 7.62mm rifles all day long and then spray a coat of paint on them to keep them from rusting.

I tried to recover one of the cores once,like a .24 or .25 hardened steel dart,from the 4th plate of T1. It was sticking half way through the plate and I tried to hammer it out. IT DIMPLED THE HAMMER FACE and never moved the core . AP is some bad stuff. TJR

T-1 laminated steel? can you give me some more info on the specs for this stuff? Some friends and I are interested in fabbing up a few steel targets.... and we have already discovered that even regular ball ammo buts big craters in mild steel plate. Something that we could shoot with 7.62 and 5.56 ball ammo at a hundred yards without denting it would be nice.

T-1 laminated steel? can you give me some more info on the specs for this stuff? Some friends and I are interested in fabbing up a few steel targets.... and we have already discovered that even regular ball ammo buts big craters in mild steel plate. Something that we could shoot with 7.62 and 5.56 ball ammo at a hundred yards without denting it would be nice.

You know what I know about these plates as of right now. We shoot them all day long at 100 yards and don't even dent them a bit. The head range officer told me when I asked they were T1 laminated steel,not being a metallurgist I nodded my head and smiled. I would assume that any metal fabricating shop would be able to make you something to suit your needs. The ones we use are 1/4". Only bad part is they are held together with regular mild steel bolts and frames and one bad hit requires a new frame or bolt. We keep our range house full of extra bolts,but a shot frame requires a new target.

Wether or not a bullet will penetrate steal has a LOT to do with distance and angle. I have found that at distances of 50 meters at an angle of 90 degrees, ball ammo will penetrate quarter inch steel plate without trouble. At great distances or angles other than 90 degrees (perfectly perpendicular) I have found it has trouble penetrating the steel. I have not played with the API. Its too expensive to shoot

30-06 AP ammo is some good stuff. I have shot it clean through a piece of 3/4 inch mild steel. http://masterpostemple.bravepages.com/ Has the original military specs listed for several different calibers. Caliber .30 AP M2 is as follows.

Having never heard of laminated steel I can't comment on it. Sounds expensive though. However, there are several sources for hardened steel plate. The ones I have were called by my metal fabricator buddy as AR plate. This is steel that has been hardened to 500+ Brinell. Normal tools can't touch this stuff but then again, neither can bullets. I used to work in a place that had quite a few military contracts. One day the project enginner came down and showed me a piece of bulletproof steel. I gladly informed him that there was no such thing. He gladly bet me $5 that I couldn't shoot through it. I accepted as I had some AP in 30-06 and a Garand to shoot it . AP didn't smudge this stuff. .300 Weatherby shooting solids couldn't scratch it. I contemplated burning a hole so as to preserve whatever credibility I had, but couldn't/wouldn't do it. So I finally bought some Remington Accelarators and shot 5 holes in the damn thing. Not bad! It only cost me $22 to win 5 and I still had 15 rounds.

Well, I have considered checking with steel suppliers for hardened plate, but I was considering where the point is that the plate would be so hard that it would be brittle, and shatter when hit by a bullet (I know hardened tool steel is easy to break... I have broke plenty of drill bits), and wondering what type of alloy would offer the right mix of hardness and toughness to make good armor plate. I hate to start calling steel suppliers and asking for bullet proof plate - in todays world they are likely to be hoplophobes and think such a customer has to be a terrorist or something, which could be inconvienant.

Mild Steel (like I-beams, angle iron, channel, pipe is 112-163 Brinell.
T-1 (ASTM A514) which has been the target steel of choice for years, has a Brinell hardness of 235-293. All our standard targets are targets are 500 Brinell (460-540). This converts to roughly a 52 on the Rockwell scale.
ARMOR PLATE is 500 Brinell, and has been Ballistically tested and certified. "
Tricon Metals, http://www.triconmetals.com/Inv_plate.html ,supplies 500 brinell steel plate.
AMTANK Armor, http://www.amtank.com/armor.shtml , does work for the military but is a private company and their site say's they'll do prototypes and small runs.